Curiosities - A man's life

I wanted to start a small section with curiosities on websites, which are interested in one way or the other.

This is a site, where you learn about a persons life through photos he had taken every day of his life till he did from 1979 to 1997.
Blog referring to the site:
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131

The site. It takes a pretty while till the photos are downloaded, but interesting anyway...
http://addresszero.com/pod-html/

I'm always was interested in peoples life, mainly those, who cold change or add a new habit in their lives. Gives me a hope, that people can change, when they are motivated enough...

And for those Slovak people with paranoia (in Slovak): ako to bezi s verejnym sutazom...

Apache, Phishing, Google Translator

Some useful facts:

Apache error code - 0xc0150002
Reinstalled Windows today (now with SP3), I've got an error while installing XAMPP.
Microsoft explanation: The package Microsoft.VC80.CRT was missing = "Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86) installs runtime components of Visual C++ Libraries required to run applications developed with Visual C++ on a computer that does not have Visual C++ 2005 installed."
Solution: downloaded and installed the file vcredist_x86.exe
Solution found at: http://www.apachefriends.org/f/viewtopic.php?p=112694


Phishing
In the last days I see a lot of phishing. It is really todays trend as I can see it. One of the biggest banks in Slovakia got just a few weeks ago a huge phishing attack on it's clients. Also I've got a lot of "invitations" to sites through msn, from contacts, which were offline right after I've got the message. On ICQ I even got those messages from ppl who are not my contacts. So I turned off the possibility to get post from strangers. Annoying. Started with blockdelete.com, which promised the possibility to get you a list of users who ignore you, by giving the site your username and password... Must have been quite successful. Became the link from a quite amount of people. - if this happened to you to, change your password immediately! Thank you!

Google Translator
Translate text, sites between 24 languages (including Czech). Though the translation is still quite far from an understandable text, you will most probably have a better chance to understand what's written there.
http://www.google.com/translate_t?hl=en
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-12-19-n41.html

In the last days I was listening to...

- Support Lesbiens - Czech band, normal music for talking. Needed such music, you can't listen to Led Zeppelin, Waking Vision or Pink Floyd, with anybody. Some people just can't appreciate it...
- Death Cab For Cutie - inspiration was the song "I will follow you into the dark", can't listen to them for a longer time, cause I believe that one album has rarely enough variability - gets boring after a while... but good music anyway
- Starsailor (album Love is here) - the saddest album I know, to bad that I feel pleasure while being sad. Heard their songs first when I was 17 (Alcoholic), have a concert from them on a tape! Recorded through FM4 (Austria). Loved those songs since then.
- My Brightest Diamond - said, hear Something Like An End (you can hear this song at her myspace site), perfect song, perfect lyrics
After being influenced by Dr. House (you should watch the series cause it's good :) but some of the ending songs are also worth listening to... some of the best music also from the 60's, 70's...):
1. The Who - Baba O'Riley (note: Boris the Spider is just a cool song, Who Are You - title song for CSI)
2. The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want - perfect lyrics! Awesome song! Thank you for using this song!
Refren:
"You can't always get what you want" x3
"And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need"
3. Mazzy Star - Into Dust - need to hear the album a few times, but sounds good... Slow with a lot of low sounds. Though seems a bit "monotone". Need to read some lyrics to it. That could rescue some value.

No more time, take care!

Beeing in the organizating committee (SprinCo 2008 OC)

SprinCo 2008. A conference for the members of AIESEC in the Czech Republic. Last term I was in a lot of OCs mainly as site help. It was always a nice experience, but as I was mainly doing stuff in my AIESEC home country there was missing something.
After a half a year I was doing the job again, and I had a marvelous experience:
- working in a team with strangers, with whom I have built up a great team in a few days from nothing. Here I want to note, that AIESECers for me are never really strangers. There is always at least two things that make me work easier with them - they are full with energy and a goal (even if just a short term one) for which they are eager to fight.
- networking from the finest one. Meeting new people with whom I want to stay in contact with.
- interesting talks
- not enough sleep, cause I felt full of energy (haven't had so much energy in my life... still slept 3 hours/day), and didn't want to miss any opportunity...
- being appreciated, for a good work.
- feeling the spirit of AIESEC

And this all with a lot of fun. I'm not sure if I had such a good experience in my life before. I write down another list of events, so I will not forget:
- meeting an African by accident, who I was with 4 years ago on You!Can
- meeting friends I was doing OC work together
- 60th anniversary, were everything had to be perfect... still don't know why was "Death cab for cutie" played... :P
- singing in the night with unknown people playing the guitar
- OC wins topalky
- understanding how to be happy from my work, while the appreciation goes to my successor
- Ostrava! :)
- Jaromir Nohavice - Jezisek - don't you wanna dance, when you hear this song? A small 30 second vid here.
- Can I abuse you? (Mozem ta zneuzit?) - ezen percben engedd meg nekem e tettet, mellyel kezem testedre tekerem
- Waterpipe
- Saturday night fever - up till 7 am, slept one hour + 1 redbull, and was fit till the end of the conference

Afterwards I feel the need to change myself, to have goals, to miss less things in life by knowing what I want = goal setting session on the go.

Thank you OC SPRINCO, Thank you AIESEC OSTRAVA, Thank you AIESEC CZECH REPUBLIC, Thank you AIESEC.

Beeing torn apart by Richard Bona

14.04.2008 - Richard Bona in PKO, Bratislava, Slovakia. What a concert! (Click here for interview after the concert)

First I was afraid if I wouldn't like the concert after an AIESEC conference I still feel the PCS (post conference syndrome see: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/AIESEC note uncyclopedia is not a relevant, nor trustworthy source of information! see rather wikipedia!), longing for the great OC team, but the international atmosphere on the stage made me quite fast comfortable in my position as a listener ;)

I always loved the typical African singing voice which is for me so indescribable, and now I had an opportunity to listen to it. Though I heard less from it then I expected, it was still a marvelous event far beyond my expectations. His repertoire listed mainly traditional African songs and I would say Latino type of music.

The problem on the Jazz concerts in Bratislava is mainly that you have to sit. And this concert was definitely for dancing your soul out. That's why I say I was torn apart. Should I enjoy the well positioned tones following each other by solving their mystery or let my body flow with it. I lost to my natural desire very quickly an was hard to handle in my chair, though as usual most of the audience bewared a calm had. But the clapping, screaming, whispering in the background broke through and 30 minutes before the end of the concert the whole place was clapping and singing "sen sen sen"... so much that Mr Bona and his band stopped playing for around 2 minutes and made the audience enjoy themselves.

He is a great entertainer. He put a lot of great jokes in his concert and made us laugh a lot of times. Like "only women over 40 should sing now"... silence ... "oooh, when you are over 40 in Bratislava your finished" :)

He also gave a solo to his percussionist from Colombia, to have a solo. Amazing.

At the end of the concert there was a 3 minute long standing ovation, one song where the audience had to stand, and should dance... but that was already to much for this type of people... anyway the mood was good and after another 3 minutes of clapping it was said to us, that there is going to be no more music. Central European people don't complain after this. Used to the fact, that the end, means the end, and so the people where slowly moving on.

All in all I was moving all the time in my chair, one of the best concerts of my life, hope to have a good Latino party on Friday ;)

Brezno

Sometime during February I was in the Low Tatra's (Malé Tatry) in Slovakia. I was there with a few good friends and enjoyed the weekend a lot, with sleeping, drinking a bit, playing table hockey and table football and singing. The usual stuff, which makes you feel fine and enjoy the company of good people. I don't want to go into detail. Don't think I want to.

What I want to talk about, and I'm sure I will remember for a longer time, is the city Brezno and it's surroundings. The first day I was going by foot for around 12 km's to see a near cave. The nature was beautiful, the weather clear, the roads slippery... The time flew by, and with a good friend to talk to it is always a good experience. Around 1pm, when we started to feel hunger, we stumbled upon a small cheese shop, where traditional Slovak cheeses were sold. Delicious! We bough also "bryndza" (sheep cheese) and "korbaciky" (woven cheese - the best were with onion flavor yam). And then we visited a stalagmite cave near there. (no pictures allowed, only for extra costs of course).

The second day I had a trip to Brezno. One of my friends lives here, so I was very interested in the city. As it is not a big city (you can see the whole city from the near hills) I enjoyed to walk freely and not getting lost a lot ;) As it was such a wonderful day I made a walk near the river, after like an hour I started to get hungry, so I tried to get to the city center. I was thinking what would I say, when somebody would ask me where I'm heading to, and I imagined to reply to a friend who lives in the Hviezdoslavovo street (in every Slovak city there is a street with that name.). For my biggest surprise just a few minutes later I found that street. Theory proven :P

Then my travels continued and with a rather long detour I got into the city center. Nice :) Wanted to eat something, found a pizzeria, at 16:00 they serve every pizza for 90 Skk. Fine... it's 15:00. Let's go around a bit more. Following some older buildings I got to a church and behind it was a road up a hill. I believed I will get a nice picture from the city from up there. I think in this case I was mistaken... at least not with a mobile camera...

The road went right into a graveyard. I felt a pleasing calmness and sadness while I was up there. I was looking around and found a few old graves and sepulchers. It was a beautiful day. I needed to be alone for a while, and this was the best place to do so.

and a nice pizza and a good beer at the end!
Cheers!

Beware of the Thing

Back in the 60's... A small family: mother, father, two children, a grandma, an uncle and a butler. Sounds quite normal, as it is. Though there is some more to mention like a lion, a hand and a dark, spooky surrounding. For those who don't know yet, I'm talk about the Addams Family.

In the last week I found most of the episodes of the original show on the Internet and I am watching it since then. I enjoy the the family members roles, and how they harmonize with each other.
A silly father, Gomez, who seems careless and is focused only on the things he loves, his hobbies, family and mostly his "querida". When near his wife he is easily falling into an almost uncontrollable state of the urge to kiss her.
The strange mother, Morticia. In my eyes a beauty in all means. Black long hair, humorous, full of the will to live with sarcastic and dark remarks. Having control over the family. It's nice to see, that she always has a good word to everybody, and encourages them.
The children being smart and "well mannered", playing with all childish things, like explosives, bats and spiders.
Lurch is someone no one could ignore. Gloomy, quite and still has so much to say with so few words... like grrr...
And uncle Fester. Who is simply crazy. Thing the hand, who never dials a wrong number, is always helpful. Kitty the lion, who doesn't eat human and is afraid when somebody screams at him and the burger eating plant called Cleopatra :)

A beautiful story of outsiders of the society, who in their own misunderstood ways try to be as polite and helpful as they can be. The jokes are always from the same field, and in this age you already know most of them, never the less the atmosphere of the family caught me, and so I will watch all of it. There are just two series anyway ;)

PS: I'm watching the series through veoh.com , if anybody is interested...

How easy life was...

In the last days I was remembered my childhood. I don't believe that I have ever grown up. This is a statement, that has to be clarified. I feel like a child, cause a child searches and enjoys the moment, while for me a grown up plans his/her future and enjoys the process and the success.

A few days ago I had to copy some documents, and at the copy shop there was a child looking at the movie "The Little Engine that Could". He was watching it on the computer, through which they print from USB keys (pen drives). The seller came (most probably mother, not sure), told that he should wait a few seconds, and can watch it again.

Of course he was quite unpleased by her decision, to stop him from his activity... well no one really cared about him, so it was natural to watch what is interesting a bit... And it was also natural for him to complain on the change of his position.

I would have felt in his situation now, like I'm unimportant, and just in the way. A quite unpleasant feeling. So I tried to make him smile. I love the fact how easily you can make children smile just by paying them attention, and so getting their curiosity. So I payed him attention. He looked around, so he saw me. I was looking right into his eyes. He didn't pay much attention at the first seconds, but as I was looking at him still he got slowly curious. After 20 seconds we played hide and seek with eye contact. Hiding the eyes behind the chair between us, and then searching for the eye contact again

This whole game gave me also a feeling of peace, calmness and happiness. The wonder of a simple childish game. He smiled, which made me smile also.

PS: Picture can be freely used, thanks to www.morguefile.com and Mary R. Vogt. Be aware that even a picture has it's copyright, not only music and video! ( original: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/?display=186338& )

Another one down

It's always hard to accept, that something you got used to diminishes. I heard a lot of music on pandora.com, before this happened: http://www.pandora.com/restricted
I loved that station, found some new bands I find to my liking through it, and got never bored of the music. last.fm is a pour alternative, as it happens, that I can choose any kind of music, after a half an hour I get to hip-hop or electronic music. I think they sort the artist to eachother and not the songs... or I don't know... simply it never worked as fine as pandora.

And now my second source of quality media deceased. www.stage6.com a.k.a. stage6.divx.com. I loved that site a mass of high quality movies, from the early 50s, through documentations and animes... and if you were lucky, you could get a glimpse on the newest movies (of course because of the copyright issues they tried to delete the illegal stuff as soon as possible).
Features included high speed download, high quality movies, full screen view, no limit for the file length. And the possibility to save the movie on your hard disk.

Thank you for delivering a whole lot of quality movies. Thank you for the hours of movie, I have been seen because of you. I hope you will be resurrected soon!

Some more info:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/66198-divx-and-stage6-chock-full-of-fail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage6

-> As I see in the divx forum, a spark of the spirit lives on... 1 month to wait to see the truth: http://newstage6.com/ <- well a few days after I wrote this post the idea was banned on copyright claims, according to my knowledge. :( Will see what veoh.com has to offer... or some other sites... please give a note, if you know of a good provider

Small wonders of technology

I remember the days, when I was a child, and wanted an instrument I could intuitively play. And then once in a while I just moved my fingers randomly in the air, like I would know what I'm doing. I believe that a feeling is all you need to make something unique. It's most probably also a feeling that most of the "air" guitar players dream of + a whole lot of need to show them selfs off :)

A lot of times happened to me (before I bought an MP3 player) that I was just imagining, creating some kind of a song on the go. Usually of course it where just parts from different song I have already heard and I glued them together... but sometimes it was something new, that no one will hear again (maybe). Or some classical instruments playing a Sunday afternoon song, other times words were going through my mind forming verses which made sense, and I never had a tool to write them down. Maybe now, if I will be brave enough to take out my mobile and switch in on record, I will have something. But the older I get, the less of them appear. And I think it is a sad think. Trigger your imagination, if you can. That's what a dreamer tells you :)

All in all I drifted away again from the original topic, so here it is. The theremin. An electronic instrument you don't have to touch, to make music with it. Enjoy the movie, if you got interested. (when I look at the artist I have the typical feeling of calm waters are deep :))